This is why Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has been so quiet: This trade, a shocker, as all the best trades tend to be. While NFL free agency was happening in other cities with such happy noise, Ballard and the Colts have been quiet for just this moment, when he could jump on a table and scream:

How you like me now?

Ballard didn’t exactly fleece the New York Jets, not if the player the Jets take with the third overall pick becomes a franchise NFL quarterback. What’s a franchise quarterback worth in today’s NFL? To the Jets, it’s worth three juicy picks in the 2018 NFL draft — No. 6, No. 37 and No. 49 — plus a second-rounder in 2019.

The story here is not that Ballard worked the Jets. The story is that Ballard worked the system. If the Jets won their end of the trade, so be it, but the Colts absolutely won theirs. They swapped picks, moving down just a tiny amount from No. 3 to No. 6, and in the process added three premium picks?

Tomorrow? The Colts have to turn those picks into great players. Whiff on the sixth overall selection, and the Colts screwed up. But here’s something I want you to consider: I wouldn’t be surprised if the Colts get Bradley Chubb anyway.

You know Chubb, the North Carolina State defensive end we’ve been in love with since well before the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine, when Chubb put on a charming show at his news conference and then put up monster numbers in physical testing. He’s every inch of 6-4, every pound of 270, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds. On the vertical leap he elevated 36 inches. In his spare time, when he’s not sacking NFL quarterbacks, maybe he’ll compete in the NBA Slam-Dunk Competition.

CLOSE

Prospect Bradley Chubb discusses his confidence and which quarterback he wants to sack at the NFL Combine.
Clark Wade/IndyStar

Chubb is too good to fall to No. 6, but this is an unusual time. Teams always need quarterbacks, but not like this year. A draft always has quarterbacks, but not like this year. Plus, Penn State running Saquon Barkley looks special. Put those together, and it’s not a mock to see the draft unfold like so:

1. Cleveland Browns: QB or Barkley.

2. New York Giants: Barkley or QB.

3. New York Jets: QB.

4. Cleveland Browns: QB, if they choose Barkley first. If not … Chubb.

5. Denver Broncos: Trade down with the Buffalo Bills, who desperately need a QB. If not … Chubb.

6. Colts: Chubb, if he’s there.

North Carolina State Wolfpack defensive lineman Bradley Chubb participates in work out drills during the 2018 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.(Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)

And then the Colts will pick again at No. 36, the fourth pick of the second round. And again at No. 37. And again at No. 49. Frankly, I’m a little concerned about Ballard. Hope he’s been doing his cardio, because from April 26-28 he’s going to get quite the workout.

Yeah, they did, and I was prepared to blast them if they moved down too far. Last week on ESPN, analyst Louis Riddick — who worked in NFL front offices from 2001-13 — predicted the Colts would trade the No. 3 pick to Buffalo, which at the time had the No. 21 and No. 22 picks. And man was I going to hate it. That’s moving down too far. The Colts almost never get to pick in the top five. To have this chance and give it up? Gutless.

The Colts did indeed move out of the Top 5 … all the way to No. 6. And picked up three second-rounders in the process? At least one of them being early in Round 2, and perhaps next year’s pick as well if the Jets stink? That’s not gutless. That’s glorious.

Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard speaks with media after a press conference introducing Frank Reich as the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

Yes, I know, nobody likes to wait. You didn’t pay thousands of dollars for your 2018 season tickets — the Colts played mind games before the renewal deadline — to watch the Colts spend the 2018 season building for 2019. But that’s not exactly what is happening here. The Colts aren’t tanking. They traded one pick in 2018 for three picks in 2018 (plus one in 2019). Those players will make an immediate difference.

But the Colts are clearly building, amassing young talent, and let’s go ahead and mention the elephant in the room. Brilliant and stubborn elephant, as they always are:

Andrew Luck.

Let’s assume he plays this 2018 season. Let’s assume he plays the entire 2018 season. You think we’re about to see the best Andrew Luck, or even a terribly good — for him — Andrew Luck? Not me. He has been through too much physically and mentally with that shoulder surgery and rehabilitation, missed a full NFL season plus one entire offseason, and surely some of this summer as well.

If Andrew Luck is ever again going to be Andrew Luck, and if he’s going to be the best Andrew Luck he has ever been, as he so optimistically keeps vowing will happen, that’ll be 2019 when he turns 30 and Jim Irsay’s clock will start loudly tick-tick-ticking. By then, assuming Chris Ballard can turn all of these great picks into great NFL players — and then do the same with the salary-cap cash he’s clearly saving for next offseason — Luck will be surrounded by the best supporting cast he’s ever had.

And Luck has taken three of his supporting casts into the NFL playoffs, one all the way to the 2014 season’s AFC championship game.

You hear what I’m saying? Stop worrying about how quiet the Colts have been in free agency. Because the future is getting awfully loud in here.